The Ivory Coast Water Supply Company (SODECI) is launching an action plan for wastewater management in the district of Abidjan in Ivory Coast. In addition to improving sanitation, this new policy will strengthen the resilience of populations to flooding.
In Ivory Coast, wastewater management services in the Abidjan district will be strengthened under a new policy. The action plan was announced recently by the deputy director in charge of sanitation at the Ivory Coast Water Supply Company (SODECI). This policy, put in place by the Ivorian government, will last until 2030.
The management of wastewater in the economic capital of Ivory Coast has already been improved through various initiatives, including the Project for Sanitation and Improvement of the Living Environment of the Autonomous District of Abidjan (PAACA). SODECI’s new plan to go even further.
The work planned includes the construction of 2030 kilometers of effluent collection networks, 150 pumping stations and 12 sludge disposal points. The collected fecal matter will be treated at two new plants that were recently announced for construction. The Abidjan wastewater management plan will also provide the wastewater treatment plants in the Ivorian district with 11 grit chambers that will remove gravel, sand and other mineral particles from the raw water in order to avoid deposits in canals and pipes, and to protect pumps and other equipment against abrasion.
Preventing flooding in Abidjan
SODECI will make 126 new connections to Abidjan’s sewerage system, improving this service for an additional 2.7 million people in the economic capital. The objective is also to prevent flooding, which persists in the Ivorian city despite the multiplication of initiatives. The last deadly floods were in June and July 2022.
The heavy rains that fell on the city of Abidjan during the night of 20 to 21 June 2022 caused flooding mainly in the councils of Cocody, Yopougon, Abobo, Adjamé, Treichville and Bingerville. A few days later, on July 17, 2022, heavy rains caused a landslide in Mossikro, in the council of Attécoubé, west of Abidjan. At the time, the Groupement des sapeurs-pompiers militaires (GSPM) reported five deaths, most of them children. And according to experts, floods could claim more victims in the city if the rainwater drainage channels are not improved…
Inès Magoum
